Acts 27:40-44, “And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.”
I love this Bible passage. The ship was wrecked and the lives of everyone onboard in jeopardy. The inspired Holy Bible says some of the passengers were rescued on the ship's boards, and others on broken pieces of the vessel. Dear reader, perhaps your life is a shipwreck! If so, God can salvage your life with the broken pieces of your life.
Dave Hyles (Pastor Jack Hyles' beloved son) is my ministry friend. I read something that he said today, which was so beautiful that I typed it out to share with my blog visitors:
“All of us are supposed to serve the Lord. ...And see, that's the saddest part for me, is that we throw people away as if they are garbage, and not realize that long before they sinned (and that sin may have been a crime), that God knew they were going to commit it. But could not possible have said: 'Okay, I'm not going to cause you to sin, but you've chosen to do so.' Is it not possible that that person could win dozens if not hundreds of people to Christ, as a result of the crime they have committed? I don't think we value people like God does. I don't think we see people in the way that God sees people. And to restore them spiritually, gives them an opportunity to mend relationships (they're not all going to get mended, they're not all going to get fixed); it often gives them an opportunity to still find a way to serve God. ...Everybody has a purpose; everyone does! I think the spiritual people sees that; unspiritual people, they just wanna throw rocks at the person. They just want to make accusations.” —Dave Hyles
Amen and amen! Brother Dave's humble words reminded me today of a tremendous sermon that his father preached years ago titled, “THE GOOD MAN VERSUS THE SPIRITUAL MAN,” in which he reiterates the same truths which Dave Hyles mentioned.
Very few saints walk in the Holy Spirit. Very few of God's children view others who have gone into sin as being in the SAME BOAT as we are. King David in the Old Testament viewed himself as being an EQUAL SINNER with his parents and ancestors. Psalms 106:6, “We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.” Boy, I love that spiritual attitude: WE HAVE SINNED!!!
And may I kindly add, the reason why over 95% of today's shameful clergy and layman alike, don't care enough about right doctrine to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3), is because they don't walk in the Holy Spirit. They are not spiritual. They walk in the flesh by default. Such carnally-minded pastors are merely concerned about their future paychecks. Pastors are to blame for the destruction of churches today! It is because of ungodly institutions like Pensacola Christian College (PCC), whose wicked pastors preach the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation, that their incompetent graduates are ruining thousands more churches! God knows that I love everybody, but I am convinced that all Bible colleges do today is neuter the pastors of tomorrow.
Let me ask you a question dear reader: Are you a good Christian or a spiritual Christian? If you rejoice that you no longer run to enjoy sin like you once did, then you are a good Christian. But that doesn't make you spiritual. How do you view other Christians today who are worldly, who still run to commit their horrible sins? Do you look down on them like PCC does those who have gone into sin? Or do you say with David in the Old Testament: “We have sinned!” I emphasis the pronoun “We.”
The Apostle Paul said in Romans 7:24, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Paul did say, “O wretched man that I was.” No, he said, “O wretched man that I am.” The good man mourns what he used to be, but the spiritual man mourns what he still is, a dirty sinner. When a good Christian hears about a carnal pastor who has fallen from his lofty position, having run off with the church secretary in adultery, he or she feels disgust toward those sinners for what they have done. But the spiritual Christian says, “There but for the grace of God, go I.” The good man is judgmental, because he tries to live above reproach and hates iniquity, so he feels righteous indignation. But the spiritually minded man is humble, considering himself left he also be tempted. The saint who walks with God humbly says: “We have sinned,” not “She has sinned,” or “He has sinned.”
The world is filled with sinfully proud sinners. One of God's jobs is to look upon the proud and bring them low to humble them. Job 40:12, “Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.” We've got a bunch of arrogant, proud and stiff-necked pastors today (Jeff Redlin, Timothy Zacharias, Marty Herron, Jared Baldwin, Joe Hensen, Sean Quinlan, Gary Walton, Steve Pettit, Sam horn, John MacArthur, Ray Comfort, Paul Washer), who all woefully corrupt the saving Gospel of free grace. God will bring these evildoers low in their stinking pride!
The Spiritual Christian:
- Walks with God and is filled with the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25)
- Loves everyone unconditionally (1st John 2:10)
- Cares about everyone (1st Peter 5:7)
- Earnestly contends for the faith (Jude 1:3)
- Abstains from all appearance of evil (1st Thessalonians 5:22)
- Speaks the truth (Proverbs 12:17)
- Says: “We have sinned,” not “You have sinned”
- Treats other people with respect, kindness and fairness (Matthew 7:1-5)
These are but a few of the character traits of a Christian who is spiritual. Going to church is NOT a sign of being spiritual; but rather, it just makes you religious.
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